2. Can any other race use the Federation's quantum, tri-cobalt, or transphasic torpedoes?

The Tri-Cobalt Device is a common enough weapon that it should be available to all of the Star Trek races. The Quantum and Transphasic Torpedoes are Federation only, however.

3. I am a little confused about the polarized hull
plating rules.
- Does only one polarized hull generation function at
a time, or can two be combined?
For example, the NX War Crusier has two level 2
polarized hull generators. Can both be used at the
same time providing a bonus of "4" to all armor
ratingsin that arc; or does is the use of only one
generator allowed for a "2" armor bonus?

No, the effects of the polarized hull plating are not cumulative. For ships that have multiple polarized hull systems on a single section, extra systems are functioning as backup units should the other be destroyed or deactivated.

So in the case of the NX War Cruiser, it would only get a "2" armor bonus no matter whether one or both of the polarized hull generators were active.

The intent with multiple hull plating systems on ships was to represent stronger, more redundant defensive systems between ships. This way a ship can lose a polarized hull system and have a backup unit waiting for it.

4. The damage on quantum torpedos is stated as "nearly doubles the potential damage each torpedo can do". A standard photon torpedo does X+10
with a maximum X of 20. Does this mean that the quantum does 2X+20?

[UPDATED] Damage for Quantum Torpedoes has been changed. Quantum Torpedoes now do 2X+15 damage, Max X of 10. This means that the maximum damage from a Quantium Torpedo is only 5 points more than that of a standard Photon Torpedo, but Quantums will achieve this level of damage much more reliably.

5. When you transfer shield strength, can you transfer from more than 1 shield at a time?

Yes, you can transfer shield strength (up to 50%) from both consecutive shield projections.

6. Light combat vessel's (such as the B'rel Bird of Prey) do not have impulse thrusters. Do they still automatically suffer the penalties of not having impulse thrusters OR are they totally immune to these penalties?

Because a light combat vessel's thrusters and engine are combined into a single drive system, such vessels will never suffer the penalties listed in the Impulse Drive System rules. However, since they no longer have an engine they cannot maneuver at all, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage compared to larger ships equipped with Impulse Thrusters.

7. You give weapon space requirements for weapons in the rules, yet I find nothing that tells how much space is available on a ship. What is the connection?

The size factors listed for weapons in the rules document are simply to illustrate the relative sizes of different weapons used in the conversions. The size of the weapons is a factor in determining how many can be logically mounted on any given hull, but no mathematical formula has been used for this purpose.

8. Can the B5W enhancement rule be used on your ships?

Yes, the B5W enhancement rules can be used with the Star Trek ship conversations.

9. Deflector shields are turned on/off before or after reinforcing projections?

Deflector shields are turned off BEFORE shield projection reinforcement occurs during the Ship Power Segment. This means that deflector shields which are shutdown during the Ship Power Segment cannot be used to reinforce shield projections during that same turn.

10. Shuttles begin game on carriers. They're in most cases launched slowly, but in an 8000 point fleet they can be launched in quite large numbers. What should be done with ones that have not yet merged into flights?

In the cases of those that have not yet merged into flights, a player should consider the shuttles to be in the same hex as the ship that launched them until such time as a shuttle flight is formed. The shuttles may fire or perform any other combat actions they are allowed, but will remain following their carrier until such time as a full shuttle flight is formed.
If a carrier cannot form a full shuttle flight, a player is allowed to form partial shuttle flights out of the maximum shuttles that the ship can operate.

I thought that the fixed damage of the Disruption Bolts would make them more deadly opponents compared to the Plasma Torpedoes whose damage drops off over range. It was a personal call, but playtest reports could change it.

12. Can fighters/shuttles be launched while their carrier is cloaked?

Yes, a cloaked ship may launch/land fighters/shuttles while cloaked. However, such actions will immediately reveal the position of the cloaked ship.

13. Can launched fighters/shuttles be already cloaked?

Those units fighters/shuttles that have cloaking devices may be launched while cloaked. This of course means that their launching/landing will be done in secret if not otherwise detected.

14. Are fighters/shuttles launched before or after decloaking?

Fighters/shuttles are launched during the Hangar Operations Segment of the previous turn while the launching ship will cloak/decloak during the Ship Power Segment of the current turn. This means that a ship may launch its fighters/shuttles while it is still cloaked, but then decloak on the following turn. Conversely, a ship may launch its fighters/shuttles on the previous turn and then cloak on the current turn.

15. Are there any criticals for a cloaking device? As it is, it works until completely destroyed.

Cloaking devices suffer a critical similar to that suffered by Jump Engines. If a cloaking device has taken damage, there is a percent chance equal to the number of boxes destroyed that the cloaking device will fail. The ship will operate as if it was cloaked for the rest of the turn but will not benefit its effects. The failure of a cloaking device leaves a ship very vulnerable to attack.

16. I was wondering if torpedo launchers would use standard weapon criticals
or have their own table?

They use the standard weapons critical chart.

17. What did you base your ships on? (SFB, the show, ect...)

Most of the ships I have personally done are based off of my
interpretation of the show and the relative strengths and
weaknesses that we saw there. Ben Rubery and others have done some SFB
conversions, and I have done a few ships from some of the game
licenses that I have seen/thought were neat.